I don't have an actual craft room. I have been promised one but it will be a long time coming. The dining room table will have to do in the mean time. I hope to share some of things that I make with you and a little bit of chat.

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Monday, 29 September 2014

How are you all feeling? I know so many people with colds and I have had one myself. That meant lots of the things that I wanted to get done at the weekend didn't happen. But the new computer is up and running. The next task is to try to get the data from the old computer and there is a lot of data to sort out.

Today's card was made for an appeal by Jo Austin, on her Facebook page, she knows a local girl who was involved in a bad accident that left her in a coma. The girl is now making a slow recovery. She and her family have been getting some comfort from handmade cards that had been sent to them.

When we were on holiday in Devon we had a trip to Bude and there was not one but three Craft Shops. In one of them I bought a pretty flowery mask which I have waiting to use for a while. I used it to create the background by inking through it with distress inks onto white card. Then I inked round the edge with a darker colour. Then I used the mask to emboss a piece of pale mauve card.

I thought that the Delicate daises dies by Sue Wilson matched the mask beautifully so I cut several sets and stuck them together before inking them. I teamed them with Faux Quilled Leaves also by Sue Wilson.

The sentiment was from a Sentimentally Yours stamps set by Phill Martin. Everything was assembled with CS dries clear PVA. I added the centres to the flowers with CS Shimmer Purple Violet Pearl PVA.

I created the insert by putting a plain piece of paper in the middle of a piece of paper before I inked through the flowery mask again with slightly lighter ink. The sentiment is a Clarity one and I have started inking with two colours I think it gives a nice effect.

I posted this card today so it should be there soon. It is lovely how sending a nice card can make a difference to someone.

Saturday, 27 September 2014

I hope you are having a fun filled weekend. I was lucky enough to see Singing in the Rain at our local theatre last night and it really did rain on the stage, twice. The people in the front rows got very wet. Today we are having a bit of a quiet day and my husband is taking the opportunity to set up our new computer. So I will have to get used to the pleasures of Windows 8.

Today I am sharing with you a card and matching tag that I made with Sam Poole's nautical range of stamps.

The card and tag both started with the background which was made at a friend's house when she invited me round to have a play with a Gelli plate. It was something I had never tried before and I was very impressed with the results, especially how well the Special touch netting mask worked with this technique.

I stamped the Just for you stamp onto white card and I coloured it with Promarkers. It was cut out with a Spellbinders rectangle die which meant I was able to ink through the die.I cut a frame for this uses some of the larger dies from this set. The embossing folder I used for one of the other layers was the Quilted Flowers A4 embossing folder and once embossed I inked round the edges to bring out the detail.

This shows the detail of the stamp. I did stamp it twice and cut the anchor from one so I could mount on foam in the middle.

For some added detail I added an Antique Button and some Bakers Twine I did want the card to have a masculine feel.

I was able to make a matching tag as we had used a piece of card to mask the centre of the Gelli plate but of course it got printed too, waste not want not. I do like things that match. I think, in the future, I might get my own Gelli plate. At the moment I don't really have enough time to experiment so I am hoping to be invited round to have another play at my friend's house sometime she is a very good teacher.

Thursday, 25 September 2014

I have been busy at work this week and I haven't had much time to be crafty. So I am going to share a Christmas card I made a couple of weeks ago with you today.

This card measure 7" x 7". I used a Sue Wilson embossing folder, Sue Wilson dies and stamps to create this card. I do like the holly and John Lockwood has used the same die to make a gorgeous wreath. There is a link to his blog at the side of my blog. The bauble was made with a Spellbinders die that had a matching stamp. The sentiment was one that came with the Festive Wreath set by Sam Poole.

This a close up showing the stamp that matches the Classic Poinsettia die isn't it pretty?

This shows the holly die and the branches that come with Pine Bough die. The berries were made with CS Berry Red Pearl PVA glue.

I hope the rest of the week goes well for you. I am hoping to get some crafting done over the next couple of days. Then I will be back to share.

Monday, 22 September 2014

I had a wonderful time at Ally Pally on Saturday. I saw demos by Pam Smith, Julia Watts and Phill Martin, I talked to lots of other people including Sue Wilson and of course a trip to Ally Pally would not be complete without spending lots of money.

For today's card my daughter asked me to make an anniversary card for her friend's parents that had to be posted - challenge accepted. This is what I created.

I started with an 8"x 8"card blank. I cut a silver mat and embossed it with the Quilted Flower A4 embossing folder. Then I cut four corners with a Spellbinder corner die and an ornate square with another Spellbinder die in black paper.

I stamped the Congratulations pre-cut stamp onto white paper with Perfect Medium and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder. I cut it out and made a thin black mat for it. When I stuck it to the I used mounting foam to give it a little height.

Once everything was stuck in place I decorate. the background with CS Pearl white PVA.

This is a picture of me with Sue Wilson on Saturday at Ally Pally she was so busy but she still made time for me to have this photo taken she is a very generous lady. As someone on Facebook pointed out it does look like Sue's hand is coming out of the lady behinds shoulder. You can see how busy Sue's stand was in the background. I do wish I had photos of the other people I met. There is only one thing for it, I will have to go back in April.

Friday, 19 September 2014

What a week we have had and we are still joined to Scotland. So no changing money when we go there on holiday.

Today's post is one of the last projects I created for Creative Studios by Sam Poole when I was on the Design Team and it was seen on Create and Craft.

Firstly I made two A4 sheets of background paper by stamping the Mistletoe background stamp with Perfect Medium onto white card and then heat embossing it with CS Clear Detail embossing powder. Then I inked the paper with three shades of green Distress Ink.

I made the cards first. The greeting was one of Sam's and mounted it onto a holly tag cut with a Spellbinders die.

Here is the detail on the card you can see the matting and layering. I often use black in my layers I feel it adds definition.

This is the insert inside the card using another two of Sam's stamps.

Then I made matching tags. I did add in some of the older release stamps with the new stamps by Sam, I thought they went so well together.

Then it came to making the box. I stacked up all the cards, envelopes and tags and I measured the height to know how high to make the sides of the box. I worked out how big to cut the paper and I used my Hougie board to score the box. Before I assembled the box I cut an aperture in the top the same shape as the tags. I inserted some heat resistant acetate that I had pre-stamped with Perfect Medium and heat embossed with CS white fine detail embossing powder. Once assembled I decorated the box with matching paper and a robin and a tag.

Tomorrow I am off to Ally Pally I am hoping to meet Sue Wilson and Julia Watts not to mention Phill Martin and to see some demos. I have a shopping list from a friend as well as my own it should be a busy day.

Tuesday, 16 September 2014

Thank you for all your comments on my Father-in-laws 90th Birthday celebrations. He had a wonderful two days and now he can cut the grass in safety.

Today's project is a card and matching chocolate wrapper. This is a good way to jazz up an ordinary present to make it a bit special. I do like things to match.

The dies are from Spellbinders, I had wanted them for a long time and then they became available on an offer and it would have been rude not to. I love plants in pots and these looked great. Each pot is a different set and there is even a little die in each so you can cut different coloured tops without cutting the whole plant.

Not one but two bars of rather nice chocolate all in the one wrapper.

Here is the detail on the card quite simple really so I will be making some more of these to have in my card stash.

Friday, 12 September 2014

I am using a laptop borrowed from my husband's work as our desktop, Old Faithfull, has decided to give up the ghost. I can check things on my phone and my Kindle but they are no good for updating your blog.

Todays card is one I made for a challenge. I wanted it to be fresh and summery using what I think of as ice-cream colours.

The main background was inked with Distress Inks and then embossed with the Rows of Bows Pinpoint A4 embossing folder by Sue Wilson. The dies I used were Sue Wilson's classic bow die, it does make a lovely bow , the Faux Quilled leaves and the Delicate daisies die set. I made the tiny envelope myself and stamped a little sentiment.

I used some Creative Expressions stamps to make this background I wanted it to reflect what I had put on the back of the card,

This weekend it is Keith's Dad's 90th Birthday. The big family party is happening on Sunday and on the actual day a group of his friends have a celebration planned. On a different note my cousin applied for our Great Uncle William's name to be read out at an event at the Tower of London honouring those who fell in World War 1, his name will be read out tomorrow.

Sunday, 7 September 2014

I have had a few bits to make recently this one is an Engagement card for the lady who is leaving our church to study for a PhD in Oxford. Well she got engaged this summer as well so this time next year she might well be married that's if everything goes according to plan. I would like to make a card for that too.

This card was made almost exclusively with Sue Wilson dies (they are nice to work with). The back ground was made using the Rose background die from the Italian collection.

I cut it once in white and once in purple and offset the purple behind the white to create a shadow. I used a pale patterned paper behind the background so there was a contrast with the die.

I made the ribbon flower following a tutorial on Sue Wilson's blog. This is my second attempt my first was too tight and the flower didn't look right. I inked the ribbon before I rolled it up. I did cut two sets of leaves one in purple and one in green. I put the green ones over the purple ones to echo what I had done with the background.

This is the box I made for the card, the flower made it too thick for an envelope. Again I used Sue Wilson dies this time from the French collection there is also a matching stamp. I do have a thing about roses and I am starting to collect lots of crafting bits which have roses on them.

Friday, 5 September 2014

Thank you so much for all the comments on my last card you are very kind.

Today's card is one that I have made for my daughter who has a fondness for penguins. It is another shaker card.

The background was made using a Clarity snowflake stamp and heat embossed it with white and silver powder. Then I inked the white paper with three shades of blue Distress ink.

I made the background for the shaker part by decorating a square of paper that would fit inside the frame. I used Stormy Skies distress ink on the top half and I heat embossed some silver stars onto it. I tore white paper to make the snow at the the bottom. I stamped and cut out the Christmas trees . Then I used some Cosmic Shimmer dries white glue to highlight details in the background and then I covered this with Cosmic Shimmer Diamond Sprinkles. I left this to dry for about three hours I wanted to make sure it was very dry.

I stamped two Penguins the stamp comes from a Sizzix stamp and die set, that's why they are so neatly cut out.

I cut a piece of heat resistant acetate to fit inside the frame and I heat embossed white stars around the edge. I assembled the frame and inserted the acetate. I put a double thickness of foam pads on the back of the frame.

Once the background was dry I stuck it to the card and and popped one of the penguins on foam pads on the background quite near the middle. On top of this I put a pile of Cosmic Shimmer Iced Snow and I popped the frame on top pressing firmly to make sure that it was firmly stuck. Then I gave it a shake to make sure that the glitter didn't come out. The other penguin was stuck on the outside of the frame the Christmas greeting came from the same set as the Penguin.

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving any comments I do appreciate them all. If you have any questions I will try to answer them.

Wednesday, 3 September 2014

Firstly thank you for all the comments on my last post. I think my father-in-law will love his card. Plans are a foot for his party and my niece is making him a special cake. I will post some pictures here after the event. You might be a bit surprised by our choice of present.

I was asked to make this card by the leader of our church music group, as one of the members is moving on, she is going to Oxford to study for a PhD.

This card mostly uses sue Wilson dies. I have had these in my stash for a while and I have just got round to using them I must say I am very pleased with the results.The music paper was an old music sheet that my husband threw out the title of the song seemed appropriate I inked it with Fired Brick Distress ink I used that on the flowers as well.

Thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving any comments I do appreciate them all.